Alice Springs and Ayers Rock Resort

We left Perth yesterday to fly to Alice Springs, where we begin a several day tour of a set of AU national parks. Our flight was a little nerve racking. As we approached the runway to land in Alice Springs, the pilot suddenly gunned the engines and shot us back up into the air. We began to circle the region, and the pilot finally came on to tell us that he had a technical problem and needed to burn off some fuel, which he did with the wheels and flaps down for extra drag. Kathie overheard one of the attendants say something about a problem with the brakes. After about 45 minutes, the pilot said he was preparing to land again and assured us that the landing would be normal. That turned out to be true, though we didn't care for seeing the airport fire trucks obviously standing by the runway for us. Anyway, we did make it to Alice Springs at last.

Last night, we stayed at a Double Tree Hotel. The temperature yesterday and today was over 40º Celsius (over 100º). So, the pool was really, really nice.

These crested pigeons, along with various other birds, including some parrots, entertained us.

As the sky darkened, Kathie began to see the stars come out. Although we haven't done it yet, we want to study the southern sky and see the Southern Cross constellation for the first time.

These are my feet. It isn't cold here!

Today we were picked up for a ride to Ayers Rock Resort in a very nice motor coach. The landscape reminded us of some combination of Arizona and the Colorado foothills. Very, very pretty.

At one of the stops along our 300 mile journey, Kathie decided to do a camel ride. She says it felt similar to a horseback ride but with "an extra boomp to it." I guess the mounting and dismounting were quite different too, as the camel does some of the work by standing or kneeling.

Here she is with her new best friend.

At another stop, we viewed one salt lake that is part of a massive salt lake system.

Also in the distance was Mount Conners, known to the aboriginals as Attila (not as in "the Hun", we assume). It is sometimes mistaken for Uluru, so the locals call it Fooleryou.

I don't know who the guy is in this photo who has obviously overeaten during the cruise, but Kathie looks great, and there is Mount Conners again in the distance.

We saw an area filled with desert oaks. The trees in this photo are likely to be over 500 years old, as they spend their first 100 years or so growing a root system down 25 to 50 meters to reach a water table. Then they begin to branch out and grow larger.

Tonight we begin our tours of Uluru and the other parks. More later!

For the Gents: Splash Yer Boots

Some of you, especially those of a female persuasion or others who have a very proper side, may wish to move on to my prior posting about our time in Perth, but I couldn't resist sharing this with my male friends and relatives.

Aussies utilize a very colorful version of the English language and have lots and lots of fun slang and sayings. First of all, though I am a little uncomfortable taking photographs in a men's restroom, here is one nevertheless.

Now, to get back to my story, I was recently introduced to the saying, "splash yer boots" as in, "Let me know if you need to go splash yer boots" or, "Excuse me while I go splash me boots." If you put this much information together with the picture, you can figure out the rest. I love it!

Perth

Alas, our cruise ended yesterday. I say "alas" because we really like cruises. The ship was comfortable, relaxing, and the ports-of-call were all fun. However, we have lots more vacation ahead of us. Our cruise ended in Perth. We elected a shore excursion that included a tour of Fremantle (where we docked) and Perth and that ended by dropping us at our hotel. The tour took us along the sea, where we saw many extraordinary beaches. All along the coast we saw nice park-like areas, picnic spots, walking and biking areas, and beach access. Residents of Perth like their beaches. There is one devoted to spending time with your dog, and that particular beach was very busy. The one below is one of the most popular for those who just enjoy swimming and sunbathing.

On the cruise, we met lots and lots of interesting people. Particularly at meal times, we would engage in conversations with folks from various parts of the UK, Belgium, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and, of course, the US. Here is a couple from Brisbane with whom we played a game of trivia during the cruise. We had lots of fun seeing them after that and visiting with them.

Almost every public area we visited in Australia so far had wild parrots and cockatoos flying about and making noise.

There are lots of nice homes in Perth. This one would be at the high end of those we saw during the tour.

We also visited Kings Park, which is a botanical garden and which has numerous memorials.

There are also great views from the park looking toward the business district of Perth.

After checking into our hotel, we went for a walk along one of the mall areas, which has its share of both cheesy shops and upscale stores.

Almost by accident, we located a restaurant for lunch located on the 33rd floor of one of Perth's office buildings. The restaurant is one of those where the seating area rotates constantly. So, we thoroughly enjoyed a 360º view of the city while having a terrific lunch.

Our hotel can be seen in this view if you want to search for the words Pan Pacific on the side of the building.

A day later (today), we walked all around the city and enjoyed shopping, an art gallery, a museum, and a visit to the Perth Mint. Much of the original economy of Perth centered around mining, especially for gold, and the Perth Mint, which was once the country's primary mint, now gives tours. Although the government's coinage mint has been moved to Canberra, the Perth Mint is still responsible for the refining and handling of gold. The tour was fascinating. We saw a demonstration of gold melted down and poured into a bar, and we saw a one ton coin (really!) which is worth over $55M Australian. There were lots of other displays too, including one about how Herbert Hoover contributed to the establishment, operation, and management of one of Australia's top ten most productive gold mines.

Here is Kathie holding a replica of the largest gold nugget ever found. The top 26 largest gold nuggets ever found were all located in Australia. The real nugget corresponding to this one weighed around 175 pounds.

I'm holding a replica on the largest one still in existence (not melted down as the others have been). This one is number 23 out of 26. It was purchased by the Gold Nugget Casino in Las Vegas and is supposedly on display in their lobby. We'll check that out sometime.

In one part of the museum, you could get on a scale, and it would tell you how much you were worth in today's gold price if you were solid gold. Today, I would be worth $5,516,392.61. Kathie came in at just under $4M, but I have always known she is worth her weight in gold.

Tomorrow we fly to Alice Springs!

Esperance

Kathie and I did not choose to take any of the shore excursions offered by our cruise line in Esperance, AU, although we understand there is a beautiful national park nearby, pristine beaches where even kangaroos choose to visit, and a replica of stonehenge to see. We simply wanted to relax and stroll through the community, visit the local shops, and enjoy the sunshine. The real adventure for the day, though, had more to do with leaving and returning to the ship.

There were lots of swells in the morning, and so boarding the tenders which took everyone to shore was interesting. The big ship sits pretty steady in the water, but the tenders bob up and down. So you had to be careful and mind your step from the ship’s platform to the tender’s deck, since the latter tended to drop or rise quite a lot at times. Kathie and I had been ashore for awhile, along with many, many other people but decided to return to the ship about 1:30PM. The tender ride back was really something, more like a wild theme park ride than anything else. The wind had unexpectedly begun to increase significantly during the day, and so the swells were much stronger. I want to say they were as much as five or six feet from trough to the top of waves, but that is only a guess—they may have been even stronger. Anyway, the tender rose and fell and tipped from side to side and water crashed against the bow and over the vessel (which is fully enclosed). Most passengers laughed and seemed thrilled, but some were truly frightened and others got seasick. Nevertheless, we got along side the ship and got back aboard with no problems.

I guess we were one of the last two or so to make it, because we eventually learned that there were as many as 800 passengers and 300 crew members (enjoying a day off) still ashore when the captain chose to suspend tender operations for reasons of safety. Rumors were flying around the ship about what was going to be done to get everyone back aboard. Kathie and I, of course, were glad we had returned when we did. I suppose there was some thought that the seas might calm (the harbor is not well isolated or protected as many are), but that never happened. Eventually, the captain announced that one or more large catamarans were being chartered to bring everyone back a few at a time. I think the combination of these larger, heavier vessels and the ship’s ability to turn to block the wind allowed for some control over the reboarding. This was all eventually successful, though much of the process occurred after dark, and the catamarans brought fewer persons back each trip. Then there was also the challenge of getting the tenders, which also serve as lifeboats, back up into their racks aboard the ship.

Our departure was delayed by something like seven hours but as I write this the next morning, we have been underway for some time. The captain said that our arrival in Perth would not be affected, though I wonder if we might arrive a few hours late. We shall see. At no time did I ever feel concern. The ship’s professional personnel have always been impressive, and as they announced, safety of passengers and crew was paramount, so they clearly did what was necessary to protect everyone. We are glad we elected none of the guided tours, since any one of them would surely have delayed our return to the ship and put us in the large group who were inconvenienced.

The cruise portion of our vacation is nearly over. We are going to miss the ship and staff, all of whom have been delightful. It has always been a little sad for me to say goodbye to the cruises we have taken, but more are out there to be had. On to Perth, central AU, and our friends Margaret and Murray!

Most Amazing Day at Sea

We paid a fee today to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the entire ship. I've always wanted to do this on prior cruises, but this is the first cruise line (Celebrity) that offered it. Wow! I enjoyed every minute, and I think we saw most all of the significant areas. We started on the bridge with our Greek captain welcoming us onboard and to the tour.

One of his officers gave us a detailed description of the controls on the bridge, with this photo showing the controls on one of the wings that project out from each side of the bridge. If you don't know, these wings stick out far enough that the officers can look down each of the sides of the ship and still control maneuvers.

Kathie and me with the captain.

Here we are in the bow of the ship in the area where the anchors are deployed and the bow lines are operated for tying up the vessel. The sound of the sea crashing against the bow was amazing.

This is one anchor windless.

A production show crew member gave us a tour of the backstage areas, including makeup, costuming, sets, etc.

The ship's human resources officer showed us where staff live, play, and relax, and he described how staff are recruited, treated, and managed.

The chief engineering officer gave us a tour of the engine control room and provided detailed discussions of propulsion, electrical generation, water capture and treatment, waste disposal and recycling, etc.

One of the stores officers showed us all the storage facilities for dairy, meats, dry goods, beverages, and alcohol products. He described in detail the methods for ordering, provisioning, and matching supplies to kitchen requirements.

The head chef and other kitchen staff gave us a tour of the kitchens.

Many of the recipes are kept on a board at all times. I photographed one, and the CIA-trained executive chef came by and said I was free to make it but to remember it made 100 gallons.

The dish washing area is complex too.

We were treated to a special lunch at the end of the four hour tour. I then took a photo of the main two-level dining room.

Worth every penny!

Adelaide

We have been in Adelaide and surrounding areas today. We were greeted by a couple that are good friends of our other Aussie friends, Margaret and Murray, who arranged for us to get together. Temperature here today was 98º with a UV index of 10 out of 10, so we were pleased not to have to be outside the entire day nor to have to do an excessive amount of walking. Margaret and Graham were our hosts, and our first stop was at the site of the signing of documents that created the state of South Australia in which Adelaide is situated. The site is located near a remnant of an unusual gum tree.

Here are the four of us later, just before we entered the community of Victor Harbor, down the coast from Adelaide.

We took a horse-drawn tram out to an island and back along a causeway.

JJ was the horse who pulled us over and back, and he was well attended and loved by this gal who saw to our trip.

Saw some beautiful pelicans.

And had a terrific meal and superb wine at a small winery between Adelaide and Victor Harbor.

This if for Will and Sandy, primarily. This is a well-known tree that aboriginals once began to use to shape a canoe by removing bark and having the tree shape itself into the desired form. Eventually, it would have been cut and further hewed. An interesting way to build a canoe.